Grapevine's Gaylord Texan Resort has opened the doors to its latest addition, a $115 million project that adds 303 guest rooms and 86,000 square feet of meeting space to the sprawling complex.

With the additions, funded by property owners Ryman Hospitality Properties, a lodging real estate investment trust, the Texan says it is now the third-largest non-gaming convention/meetings hotel in the United States. That's if you're measuring total self-contained exhibit and meeting space.

The addition, dubbed the Vineyard Tower, brings the Gaylord Texan's total meeting space to about 490,000 square feet and bumps the total number of guest rooms to 1,814.

By comparison, the Sheraton Dallas downtown, one of the largest meeting hotels in the state, has 230,000 square feet of meeting space and 1,840 guest rooms and suites.

"Our Vineyard Tower expansion was due to the demand in group business we had seen, including that from larger groups that we previously were unable to accommodate," said spokeswoman Martha Neibling. "The additional rooms and meeting space will allow us to host more groups and larger groups."

About 80 percent of resort business comes from groups, and 20 percent is from the leisure market.

The new Vineyard Tower adds meeting space and "pre-function" space for receptions.

(Gaylord Texan)

The Vineyard Tower includes an outdoor garden terrace at ground level and a second-floor outdoor terrace that overlooks Grapevine Lake. The second floor also hosts a 30,000-square-foot ballroom, named in honor of Grapevine's longtime mayor, William D. Tate.

The city approved incentives of up to $10 million to help with the project.

The décor in the ballroom pays tribute to the Texas Longhorn, which can be seen in the glass-blown horns found inside a chandelier and wall lighting.

The project originally was due for completion in early 2019, but ran ahead of schedule without delays "so we were able to open summer 2018 instead," Neibling said.

STR, formerly Smith Travel Research, determines what's a resort more by physical location than amenities or services offered. Many are in high-traffic tourist destinations including Orlando and Lake Tahoe.

Some, like the Texan and the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, are "destination resorts" that are considered a destination in and of themselves with extensive amenities.

The Four Seasons has 431 guest rooms and 41,000 square feet of meeting space along with a tennis court and a golf course that for years was home to the Byron Nelson, a PGA Tour stop. That event moved this year to a new course in southern Dallas.

The Westin Stonebriar Hotel & Golf Club, a resort in Frisco, also includes a golf course.